Industry News

Reydon Sports hires new key partnerships manager

Reydon Sports has announced a new appointment to its team, Sharon McIntyre, Key Partnerships manager, who is running Sales for Ireland.

Based in Dublin, Ireland, Sharon worked within the FMCG industry for an extensive period, having careers within leading brands such as PepsiCo and Haribo. During this time, she grew turnover for key retailers across the country, building strong relationships alongside driving sales in-store. More recently, Sharon spent seven years working for the Boyne Valley Group.

Bringing proven sales and marketing experience to the position, Sharon has now joined Reydon’s sales team to help expand its Ireland reach, strengthening client relationships and achieving projected growth goals.

Reydon’s Ireland customer base is made up of over 300 retail doors, including Elverys, O’Neills, Life Style Sports, Smyths Toys, Great Outdoors, 53 Degrees North and a widespread assembly of key independent retailers. Reydon also currently sells product into retailers from buying groups such as Toymaster, AIS and RSI, with its customer base continuously building.

Sharon has now fully immersed herself in Reydon’s sales processes and has begun working closely with its key retail partners. She can be reached at +353 86 071 5012 or sharon@reydonsports.com.

Eolo Toys has welcomed Matilde Lombardi as its new Global Product director, aka the “Product Fashionista”. Known for her creative genius and sharp market instincts, Matilde has joined the company to take Eolo’s product innovation to bold new heights.

Eolo Toys has welcomed Matilde Lombardi as its new Global Product director, aka the “Product Fashionista”. Known for her creative genius and sharp market instincts, Matilde has joined the company to take Eolo’s product innovation to bold new heights.

Eolo said: “After her last role at IMC Toys, where she spent eight years as Global Marketing manager, Mati led game-changing product launches and crafted killer strategies. She now joins Eolo to shake up the toy industry in style.”

“Mati’s energy and vision are exactly what we need as we push boundaries and dream big,” commented Alex Prieto, director of Fun of Eolo Group.

Established 43 years ago by founder, Rafael Prieto, Eolo’s First Kite Factory set the foundation of what Eolo Toys is today. Now, the company covers a wide range of categories from outdoor toys to novelty, feature plush and electronic pets; all developed by its world class design partner, Toy Zone.

“Eolo’s creativity is unmatched, and I’m so excited to bring fresh ideas to the table,” said Mati Lombardi.

Character Options celebrates team success and raft of promotions

During Character Options‘ annual Christmas sales and marketing conference, which sums up the year gone by, Chloe Weston was announced as Salesperson of the Year while also being promoted to Area Sales manager. Chloe joined the company in 2022 and has rapidly become a much-valued member of the team. The award was presented to her on the last day of the conference.

Sales director, David Bramford, commented: “This award and promotion is much deserved for Chloe. In her two years with the company, she has proved to be highly ambitious both for herself and the success of the company. As a highly popular member of the sales force, I speak for the whole team in congratulating her.”

Further promotions were also announced during the event. Brand managers Kathryn Ludlum and Sophie Beard were both promoted to Senior Brand manager. Mark Hunt, Marketing director, congratulated them, saying: “As long-serving members of the marketing team, Sophie and Kathryn have consistently performed above and beyond expectations. It gives me great pleasure therefore in announcing their promotions, as their experience in all areas of the marketing strategy are invaluable to the department.”

Luke Bradley has been promoted to Audio Visual Studio manager. “Over the last few years, Luke’s skillset has generated a wealth of innovative content across multiple brands,” continued Mark Hunt. “The fact that Character has its own in-house studio enables us to create assets and video content on-demand, which keeps us ahead in this digital age; Luke has played an integral part in this, so we are thrilled to be able to acknowledge this with a promotion.”